Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) director general Shekhar Mande said premier scientific institutions like the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) should tap big data analytics in life sciences to address fundamental questions like how genes are regulated as they define differences between different organisms.
“They are also extremely important for the pharma and life science industry,” he said, while delivering the 34th foundation day address over the weekend. CCMB celebrated the day with multiple activities for students, staff and the public, and saw research scholars presenting their work.
Dr Mande, a biophysics expert, spoke about how scientists understand structures of protein complexes and their functions — a field where a large amount of biological data is generated. The same is through for those unravelling genomes of different living organisms. Therefore, the next big question lies in finding meaningful inferences from these large datasets, he said.
CCMB director Vinay Nandicoori said the institute is uniquely placed with its deep expertise in basic science as well as being in an ecosystem that facilitates translation of the findings. “We will take advantage of this position to make a stronger impact on society. Our contributions during COVID-19 already have paved the way,” he said and added that in the coming years, lot of rigorous fundamental science could be expected from the scientists.
The day ended with a flute recital by Pandit Ronu Majumdar, an exponent from Maihar Gharana of Hindustani classical music, said a press release.
